User blog:ADSeifert/Thinking Aloud about Massive Craft - 2
Economics As before, I wanted to share some concepts that I think are both neat and would help enrich the role-playing (that is the key word) experience on the Massive Craft server. My main bone to pick this time is with the economy. I don't mean the plugins themselves, because I think the silver/copper currency and the chest shops are nice (I do think that, like private chests, chest shops should also expire, but that's neither here or there). I think the economy is stupid. When I walk through Silver Edge, five out of six shops look designed wholly to rob ignorant newcomers of their starting money. Yes, I am looking at you, shops that charge three silver for a diamond or 1 silver for six pieces of bread. You are crap, and I wish you would explode. Back when I was a new member, there was a place called 'Luukerdam,' run by two staff members. The place was a permanent (or as I usually call them, 'npc') faction that offered dozens of stalls where you could buy goods. Even better, you could actually sell goods to the Lukkerdam merchants. Most shops in Silver Edge don't buy your goods, and if they do, the price tends to be terrible (and in most cases shops only buy diamonds and nothing else). At Lukkerdam, you could sell dirt, cobblestone, wood—many of the things that new people have coming out their ears. You did not get oodles of cash, but you were able to create a steady flow of income just by mining. Lukkerdam is how I paid for my faction and my plot in Silver Edge. This may also cut down on the barrage of new person shops one finds on the outskirts of Silver Edge, its travel points, or warp points. I feel like a new staff member needs to be put in charge of Lukkerdam, or they need to make a new place. Perhaps, if its not a replica of Silver Edge, the 1.2 world's capital can server in this capacity? More than anything else, this will allow a degree of regulation on the economy. Having an npc merchant will lower the rate of price gouging that goes on in Silver Edge and prevent devaluation of goods: "I can get that cheaper at Lukkerdam." It cuts down on how much people need to scream in global chat about what they're trying to sell or buy. All it would take is one staff member to empty or stock shop crates, and given the fact that mods no longer need to move chests, I'm sure that one of them could serve in this capacity (not every operator has be a full-time 'cop' moderator). My second (and more 'out there') remark involves faction purchases. As the economy continues to grow, the people at the top continue to get richer. Most of them just sit on piles of money. After all, once you have a faction and a level 3 plot in your favorite quarter, what else is there to do with the money? Back when Lukkerdam was running, you could buy ships for silver. Not only do I think this should come back, but I genuinely feel like there need to be more things that a faction can purchase. I'm one of those faction owners with a lot of money, and while I'm a nice guy, I'm not going to just donate randomly to strangers. My first idea was a sort of 'advertising' space in the central spawn building at Silver Edge. Faction could pay to have a portal connect that spawn room directly to their store. In the event that this might cause crowding, there is the possibility of putting it in an adjacent building. After all, what do those central district building do, anyway? With the new world coming out, I am imagining that there will be new districts to buy land in (or at least I'm crossing my fingers). Why not also have it so factions can buy a direct link to one of those big magnificent boats in Silver Wind? (the 1.2 city) The last idea I had is probably the most complicated, since it involves creating another npc faction. Essentially, there would be an npc faction represented by multiple chunks scattered across the continent. Think of them like 'rest stops.' A faction would be able to purchase one of these chunks, allowing them to use it to both sell goods and have it serve as a travel point. Reckon that is all I have on my mind right now. I have some thoughts on faction mechanics, but I'll save that for another time. You thoughts? I'd love to hear if anyone has any similar ideas on their mind as well. Dialouges! They are fun. Category:Blog posts